Base sticker fee for Portsmouth transfer station set at $140

Transfer station rules set

The Town Council also voted unanimously Monday to enforce a list of rules for the Hedly Street transfer station as proposed by the administration team.

Some of the rules — such as a $75 fee for a load of construction and demolition materials that exceeds 32 pounds — were already in place but not strictly enforced, Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr. said.

Among the other rules:

• The one-week sticker price is being raised from $20 to $30.

• No trailers of any kind will be allowed. “People try to get into the (transfer station building) with their trailers and they’re ripping off the side of the house,” Mr. Rainer explained.

• No loitering or pedestrian traffic.

• No scavenging allowed.

PORTSMOUTH — Residents who use the transfer station on Hedly Street will pay a sticker fee of $140 starting Jan. 1 under the town’s new pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program.

The cost of a second sticker per household will remain at $10.

While that’s lower than the current rate of $160, transfer station users will still pay more to dispose of their trash and recyclables going forward. 

The $140 sticker cost, approved unanimously by the Town Council Monday night, is merely a base fee which doesn’t include the cost of special PAYT bags residents will buy for their regular solid waste that’s thrown down one of the chutes at the station.

The new sticker fee is based on the assumption that about 3,500 households will purchase stickers. The fee will be in effect for the 2018 calendar year, with the council revisiting the matter again next November.

Under the PAYT system, the more trash you generate, the more you pay. The orange PAYT bags, with “Portsmouth” printed on them, will be sold in three different sizes: $2 for a 33-gallon bag, $1.25 for a 15-gallon bag, and 80 cents for an eight-gallon bag. The bags would be purchased in bulk by stores such as Clements’ Marketplace and sold to customers with no markup. 

Town Administrator Richard Rainer Jr. said the sale of bags should bring in about $384,000 in anticipated revenue for the town.

At the Nov. 13 meeting, Kristen Brown, a national expert on solid waste reduction and recycling incentive programs, presented total annual cost estimates for households based on how many bags they’d use. With the $140 base sticker fee included, a typical household will pay anywhere from $184 to $244 in total disposal costs, according to her figures.

Nothing else would change at the transfer station. There will still be bins for used clothes, household construction, yard waste, books and other items.

Funding for Prudence

The council also looked at ways to subsidize trash disposal on Prudence Island, which ferries its waste and recyclables to Bristol before it’s taken to the town’s transfer station and, ultimately, to the state landfill. The town gets about $25,000 from island residents to trash disposal, but that figure is expected to rise to $140,000 next year.

In an attempt to cover the shortfall, council member Paul Kesson’s motion for the $140 sticker fee also directed the town to use $50,000 in contingency funds to fund the Prudence Island’s transfer station for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30, and to push its operational costs into the town’s general budget going forward. (The transfer station on Hedly Street operates under an enterprise fund.) The motion also directed Mr. Rainer to find $120,000 in next year’s budget for the island’s transfer station.

According to Brian Woodhead, acting director of the town’s Department of Public Works, the PAYT bags will be available for sale at the Prudence Island general story and the Stop & Shop in Bristol for the convenience of Prudence residents. The island transfer station will also receive a container for construction debris.

The Town Council voted to switch to a PAYT system on Nov. 13, a month after it decided to keep the transfer station open rather than going with curbside pickup. Officials said the amount of solid waste going to the landfill should decrease, while recycling rates should go up, under PAYT.

Last month the council voted to award the contract to run the transfer station to the current operator, J.R. Vinagro, which submitted the lower of two responsive total bid packages — $1.11 million.